This government has made it clear, lifting productivity is a top priority.

Login or signup to continue reading

Assistant Minister for Productivity Andrew Leigh has been charged with the complex task, supported by the Productivity Commission, top economic thinkers promoted into cabinet and the productivity roundtable in August.

Leigh's recent speech at the Chifley Institute cited housing and infrastructure as two areas we have to get moving.

He outlined some hard truths about bureaucracies, referencing "slow, fragmented and overengineered" systems that were no longer fit-for-purpose.

And, along with that, he outlined the public service capability we need to lift productivity and be fit for the future.

One of Leigh's solutions is to remove friction in critical processes - redesigning systems where "coordination should be the rule, not the exception".

This plays out across the social services system - an interconnected web of payments, supports and programs that costs more than $200 billion each year.

Services and supports are fragmented - government departments don't talk to each other, providers compete for funding, levels of government don't work together.

Finding the right door to the right service at the right time is more the result of luck than a feature of design.

Rigid eligibility criteria keep people out, allowing issues to worsen. Over time, shame, stress, trauma and financial hardship compound with generational impacts.

This system is managed with a focus on cost savings and risk management. Complex rules ask people to navigate eligibility and lots of paperwork with penalties for stuffing it up.

This is meant to ensure efficiency but, because of a lack of collaboration, effort and dollars are wasted........

© The Examiner